There might be nothing cuter than dozens of watoto (“children” – quite possible my favorite Swahili word) crying out a greeting of “Wazungu!” (literally, “white person”), to which we playfully respond “Hello, African” and make our Tanzanian friends laugh. They got even cuter yesterday in Ujiji (a town we visited to see the David Livingstone Memorial) … calling out “Bye-bye” as they waved, so clearly excited to be able to “greet” us in English.
Our friend Biroto, one of the youth leaders, is a 22 year old guy who simply drinks up all the information either of us can offer on the Word, Grace, America, life. He led us through Ujiji as he grew up there. When he brought us to his own home, his little siblings ran into the yard and stopped short when they saw us, then ran back to announce “Wazungu!” to their Mama J
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Who are we?
- brooke mardell
- ... through her mind, through her heart, through the words on this page which will lead through the crazy and the serious and the fun and the mundane
Friends' Blogs
- 3 boys in a kayak
- Al - The Next Chapter
- Ally Wilhite
- Bolens
- Dre in Kenya
- Gil, Amy & Grace Medina in Tanzania
- Hoehne
- Jason & Jill in Vietnam
- Josh & Liz Howeth
- O'Dells
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- Sarah G.
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- Vitela in Iraq
- West Adoption - From Russia with Love
- Wonderful World o' Spansel
Reading material for the journey
- - Let the Nations be Glad!, by John Piper
- - Paul’s Blog (otherwise known as the Book of Acts)
- - Revelation of God among the Unevangelized, by Christian Reese
- - Rumors of Another World, by Philip Yancey
- - Running on Empty, by Rick Anderson
- - The Apostle, by John Pollock
- - The Great Omission, by Steve Saint
- - The Servant Leader, by Blanchard & Hodges
- - There’s a Snake in My Garden, by Jill Briscoe
- - Velvet Elvis, by Rob Bell
3 comments:
So...do most of the Africans like you Wazungu? I dunno what I would think having some funny lookin foreigners come into my village. I guess you make up for your looks with the charming personality. Hopefully that is conveyed despite the language barrier. Love you guys.
Some of them are flat out terrifed and won't even hold our hands - in some of the villages we've stopped in, Coni and I will start singing and the kids will join around, but if we reach for their hands to start the "Hokey Pokey" circle, guaranteed that some will go running! They're laughing as they do, so it's pretty funny, but they will NOT come close.
Then of course there are those who demand - not ask, but demand - that you give them something. These are the saddest to us, because someone somewhere taught them this - and there's a hardness in their eyes that's hard to explain.
But most are sweet and friendly and timid until you make the first move. They run after you waving and screaming "Wazungu", and giggle if you wave back or smile, they practically celebrate.
how adorable. it's so fun to read about all of the new and cool things you guys are experiencing.
Liz
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